hi, my tutor has me type from memory all of the things at w3schools.com to learn the language, as well as type from memory all of the php projects we do after we do them so that i can code them from memory. i was wondering if this is a good practice? escpecially the one about memorizing the code to my php projects and being able to type them up from memory? should i still do this? any help greatly appreciated. thanks.

Well, I have always tried to memorise the syntax and semantics of every language I have needed (or wanted) to learn.

The advantage being once you have reference books are things you need rarely, you do not need to be "online" to write code and you can sit in front of any machine and write whatever you need to.

The only exception of course is languages that require a compiler.

thanks. do you think its still a good idea to type my projects over and over , like delete it, then retype it from memory, until i can do the whole project from memory? or should i just leave it and look the parts of it up when im coding something similar?

That can be a good way of training your memory to absorb and recall more and more information accurately.

As humans we only use a relatively small part of our brain capacity and much of it is dormant, practising "feats of memory" does make us bring more and more brain "on-line" as it were.
It's like walking, the more you walk, the further you find you can walk. Our brains need excercising just like any other part of our body, and memorising and recalling code is a good way for a programmer to excercise the brain.
It may seem futile and frustrating now, but you will appreciate it at some later stage.
The saying is "Use it or lose it"

awesome chris that inspires me to do it more and that im not just wasting my time. thanks very much for your feedback.

Some chess players can memorize openings that go 20-30 moves deep. At that level of possibilities, there are literally millions of variations. Of course they're not memorizing millions of variations, but it goes to show you how much the brain can absorb if it is trained to take in information.

Programming is a lot like chess in the mental aspect: pattern recognition and memorizing variations that can be reused. The other skill that is very useful to have is the ability to read documentation.

it is cool things